The present application relates to computing, and more specifically to software development tools and methods, including data mapping mechanisms used to map or associate processes or process elements or activities of a process-based software application to context, e.g., data received and/or output by the processes.
Mechanisms for developing process-based software applications that leverage or otherwise use content from various data objects, e.g., data objects comprising collaborative content, are employed in various demanding applications, including tools for developing cloud-based social network applications, collaborative webpage content development mechanisms (e.g., wikis), integrated development environments for developing team management software, business-related user tasks, and so on. Such applications often demand efficient mechanisms for quickly configuring software to ensure that accompanying modules and processes receive accurate and current data inputs and provide outputs that are readily usable by subsequent processing stages, and/or other software applications and modules or steps.
Conventionally, to specify input and output data mappings for a given process or process step (e.g., process activity), a developer may manually search for (or create) input data objects to select for a particular process, and then hand code or otherwise manually specify instructions for where and how the output should be contained and delivered.
However, such manual data-mapping and organization can require substantial time and expertise. Furthermore, such manual specification of data mappings and data object management can be particularly susceptible to human error and disorganization, which may result in a process receiving stale data and/or result in misplacement or misconfiguration of output data.